NEWSNEWS & & ANALYSIS EVENTS SCIENCE POLICY

Assam India to reopen mining Meghalaya Jharkhand for rare-earth elements West Bengal Chhattisgarh

Orissa

he battle over rare earths seems to pacity of 20 GW of on-grid solar power Thave become the most bitter inter- by 2022, and 40 GW of wind power, the national trade dispute this decade. Coun- Geological Survey of India has made ex- Monazite tries have become increasingly con- ploration of rare earths a high priority for Extract: Thorium and uranium cerned that China is gaining a monopoly its next ¿ ve-year plan. Xenotime over the production of these elements, “With limited availability of rare Extract: Dysprosium Tamil Nadu which are critical to green energy and earths, and the projected growth in de- Bastnäsite high-tech industries. The United States, mand, supply chain vulnerability may set Kerala Extract: Cerium for example, once produced all its rare- in,” said Rangachari Krishnan, chief ad- earth elements domestically, but has be- visor to the Center for Study of Science, come wholly reliant on Chinese imports Technology and Policy in Bangalore, and of rare-earth elements because of a lack over the last 15 years. During disputes former head of the Metallurgy Division of competition in the domestic market, through the World Trade Organization, at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. which made Chinese imports cheaper. China said that its policies in question The elements particularly in demand Now, as before, the Atomic Miner- are aimed at protecting natural resources include neodymium, which is used in the als Directorate, a unit of India’s Depart- and achieving sustainable economic de- permanent magnets inside the compact ment of Atomic Energy, is at the heart velopment. Meanwhile, one of the few motors of wind turbines, and dyspro- of exploration since a major source solutions for countries suffering a supply sium, which is used to raise the Curie of rare earths is monazite sands, from shortage is to launch their own mining temperature of the magnets of electric which radioactive thorium and uranium efforts. And that is exactly what China’s vehicles. “The typical weight of a 1-MW are also extracted. “India possesses the neighbor, India, is now planning to do. wind generator is around 600 kilograms, largest deposits of monazite in the world, India’s Ministry of Mines has formed out of which neodymium is around 25% mostly in the coastal tracts of Orissa on a steering committee to investigate re- and dysprosium is about two to three the east coast and in Kerala on the west starting exploration of rare earths, with a percent,” said Krishnan. Cerium oxide coast. Besides the beach sands, mona- particular eye on India’s growing renew- is used for UV absorption in solar panels, zite has been reported in carbonatites in able energy sector. Modern electronic and lanthanum is required for catalytic Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, and Assam,” technologies depend on rare earths, and cracking in the petroleum industry. India said Krishnan. with government targets for a total ca- also has a large and increasing demand According to the Prime Minister’s of- for À uorescent bulbs ¿ ce, these reserves stand at about 10.7 and tube lights, which million tons, translating to roughly 5 use terbium, yttrium, million tons of rare-earth oxide. and europium in their Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL), the À uorescent coatings. country’s only rare-earths producer, is If India does setting up a processing plant in the east- begin mining rare ern state of Orissa to produce 11,000 tons earths, it will not of rare-earths chloride, which in turn can be for the ¿ rst time. be converted to rare-earth oxides. Along “India was a leading with a smaller plant already in operation producer and sup- in Kerala, they are expected to produce plier of rare earths around 2250 tons of rare-earth oxides in 50 years ago,” said the last quarter of 2012. Krishnan, particu- The Japanese ¿ rm Toyota Tsusho has larly of yttrium. entered into an agreement with IREL to

Yvon Maurice Yvon About five years set up a plant at Visakhapatnam in East- Mineral-rich “black sands” in Kollam, a coastal district in the Indian ago, however, the ern India to produce rare-earth oxides, state of Kerala. These sands are a valuable source of monazite. country froze min- and the company expects an export of ing and development about 4000 tons of the material from this

792 MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 37 • SEPTEMBER 2012 • www.mrs.org/bulletin NEWS & ANALYSIS SCIENCE POLICY

plant. In July 2011, it began construc- that the process of starting such mining earths annually from China. According tion of a plant that “makes use of this operations is likely to be slow: “From to the US Department of the Interior, previously unexploited mixture as a raw exploration until setting up an extraction the United States has around 13% of material to produce such rare earths as plant may take more than 10 years.” global reserves of rare earths, Russia neodymium, lanthanum, and cerium,” Despite its latest efforts, however, has 17%, and Australia has 1.5%, yet according to the company’s website. India is unlikely to challenge China in its all these nations depend on imports, Sizable deposits of xenotime, a phos- dominance over the global supply of rare too. Complaints to the World Trade phate mineral that contains the heavier earths, according to Naresh Pant, associ- Organization have focused on the fact rare earth dysprosium, have also been ate geology professor at the University that China—which has around 37% of found in the states of Chhattisgarh and of Delhi. “That would require at least an reserves and supplies around 97% of the Jharkhand. Meanwhile, bastnäsite—a order of magnitude increase in produc- world’s rare-earth elements—is threaten- source of cerium—has been found in tion,” he said. India’s rare-earth reserves ing businesses by restricting exports. the state of West Bengal. As yet, though, stand at just more than three million For India, which also relies on Chi- the extent of India’s reserves is not fully tons, he said, while China has more than nese rare earths, restarting rare-earths known. Of the 6500 kilometers of In- 36 million. processing, mining, and exploration dian coastline, the Geological Survey of At the moment, the lack of rare-earth may at least offer a ray of hope as sup- India has only explored 2200 kilometers, deposits in the European Union means ply shortages begin to bite. according to Krishnan. He also warns that it imports USD$458 million of rare Angela Saini

NSF and EC establish collaboration opportunities tween European and US researchers. for early career scientists European Commissioner for Re- search, Innovation and Science Máire he US National Science Foundation rations with European colleagues sup- Geoghegan-Quinn and NSF Director T(NSF) and the European Commis- ported through the European Research Subra Suresh signed the arrangement on sion (EC) signed an Implementing Ar- Council (ERC) awards. The agreement July 13 at the European Science Open rangement to provide opportunities for supports collaborations on speci¿ c proj- Forum in Dublin. NSF-funded early career scientists and ects while leveraging research funding engineers to pursue research collabo- and fostering lasting collaborations be-

Brazil and China discuss 10-year cooperation plan National Space Administration (CNSA), Chen Qiufa, to discuss numerous top- ics, including the Bi-National Center for uring the Rio+20 Summit held in Marco Antonio Raupp, traveled to China Nanotechnology and memorandums of DJune, Brazil and China signed the to meet with the Chinese Ministers of understanding for biotechnology and Ten-Year Cooperation Plan 2012–2021. Science and Technology, Wan Gang, and meteorology centers. In July, Brazil’s Minister of Science, Industry and Information Technology, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Miao Wei, and the head of the Chinese

Australia’s synchrotron receives renewed funding be used to study the most precise nature www.synchrotron.org.au of any biological and industrial material, it can be used by almost any industry onash University, with the support ister Senator Chris Evans said with the across a wide range of research ¿ elds,” Mof the Australian government’s strong need to undertake research and said Evans. investment of AUD$30 million under development to transform industries The AUD$30 million government in- Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will man- and see them through challenges such vestment is being provided by the Aus- age the Australian Synchrotron program. as climate change, economic change, and tralian Research Council (AUD$25 mil- Australian universities will also invest skills shortages, there has never been a lion) and National Health and Medical around AUD$25 million. Announcing more vital time to invest in the facility. Research Council (AUD$5 million). Ƒ the funding, Science and Research Min- “As the Australian Synchrotron can

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